Improvement in check-hook guards for harness



' uw. c. SHIPHERD.

Check-Hook Guard for HaKrneISS.

N0,131,793. Pafmdocmmn.

WILLIAM c. smrnnnn, or oLnvnLAnn, curo.

' IMPRovl-:MENT |N CHECK-'Hook GuAnDs Fon HARNESS.

Specification foi-ming part of Letters Patent No. 1311,793, dated October 1, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

`Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. SHIPIHERD, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and `State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Check-Hook Guard, oiwhich the following is a specification:

This invention relates to improvements in i that portion of harness known vas check-hooks;

and it consists in the construction and form ot' the guard and the'mode of pivoting it to the slotted end ofthe check-hook so that the welt and jockey of the saddle, and the bolt that connects the jockey with the saddle, are protected from Wear and abrasion thereby.

In the drawing, Figure l is a view of a `check-hook having my improved guard ati structed, have been pivoted at one end to the ,check-hook while the opposite end rested looselyupon theforward portion of the saddle, the welt, jockey, or the bolt that connected the jockey with the saddle, and was at liberty to rise and fall with every motion ofthe horse, as a consequence of which the welt and jockey of the saddle, or the bolt that connected the jockey with the saddle, soon become defaced, Worn, and unsightly.

To remedy this defect I have constructedn my guard B with a heavy or weighted end,cl, which end of the lever or arm falls sufficiently low to prevent the exit ofthe rein, but not low enough to rest upon the Welt, jockey, or bolt of' the saddle; at its opposite extremity a thumb-piece, c, forming `the short arm of the lever. Just below the thumb-piece c, at the point marked c, the guard'B has a curved bearing-surface, bounded upon the lower side by the long arm of the lever, and upon the upper by projection or stop b, and is pivoted to the end of check-hook A. The check-hook is Slotted at its end to receive the guard B,

and is recessed slightly upon its under side to allow a free upward movement of the long arm of the lever. The downward movement of the long arm is checked at a certain point, and before it touches the welt, jockey, or bolt, by the projection b upon the short arm of the lever striking against the uppersurface of the check-hook. By pressing upon the thumbpiece c the long arm of the lever can be caused to describe about one-eighth of a circle and assume the position shown in dotted lines Fig. l, which will permit of the ready withdrawal of the check-rein, and when the nger is removed from the thumb-piece the long arm will fall toward the Welt and jockey or bolt, but

before it can strike will be arrested bykthe projection bcomingin contact with the checkhook. As the end d of arm B is Weighted it is evident that, while the guardis at liberty to rise and i'all with the motionof thehorse, it will nevertheless have the tendency to retain the position shown in the drawing; and it is equally evident that the Welt and jockey, or the bolt of the saddle, are not liable to become abraded.

l do not claim a guard pivoted upon the end of a check-hook, the long arm of which rests Vupon the bolt that secures the jockey upon the saddle, for such is not new. The object oil my invention is to prevent contact of the pivoted guard with the welt, the jockey, or the bolt that connects the jockey with the saddle, for, such portions of a saddle being generally highly inished and ornamented,

they are easily distgured and their attractive appearance destroyed if the metal guard is permitted to come in contact with such parts.

Vhat I claim as my invention is The check-guard I3, having the projection `b and weighted end d., constructed and operating in connection with the slotted end ofthe check-hook A, as herein described, and for the purpose set forth.

'To the above I have signed my name this i 19th day of March, 1872.

WILLIAM G. SHIPHERD.

Witnesses:

JN0. J. SHIPIIERD, v FRANK GABY. 

